MaNan- 5 Years Later...

23• |Parental solace|

That left Dhruv and Nandini by themselves for which Nandini was glad. She needed this time with him. They had so much to talk about including what happened during this second lockdown. Dhruv asked her if she wanted to go for a walk and Nandini obliged, more than willingly.

"Dhruv, when are you coming back to Mumbai? I figured; you will come with us after the wedding but you are going to your parents' house again." Nandini whined, softly. She had missed Dhruv for weeks together when he was gone due to the second lockdown and to learn that it still wasn't the time for him to return, made her feel bad.

"I do want to come back soon but my dad is retiring next week so I have to be there for that. I will come back after that. I have so much to take care of here as well so I don't think I'll delay my return." Dhruv told her.

"How are you managing with your emi(s) given the lockdown and having no classes?" Nandini asked Dhruv as she recalled him wallowing about his troubles over their conversations on phone, during the lockdown.

"Last month, I had to borrow money from my family which was the biggest mistake of my life. They are super worried about how am I going to handle everything. I paid them back by working with my uncle at his factory, last month but now that I'm coming back here, they have started with their bellyaching. Forget that.... I'm starting at that reality show, next month. So, with that money and what I'll get from renting out the studio, I think, I'll be able to manage things smoothly from next month. But I still am figuring out what to do for this month." Dhruv informed Nandini about his situation, elaborately. What Nandini adored the most about Dhruv was that he'd open up about his problems only if someone would ask him about it. He'd always face the challenges on his own and would not even bother to unload his stress on anyone else until asked.

Nandini pulled Dhruv towards a small tea stall and they settled on the bench there. Dhruv ordered tea for both of them while Nandini pondered over what Dhruv told him. She wanted to help him but she had to make sure if she could manage that so, she checked her mobile banking app in her phone.

"Here!" Nandini locked her phone when she heard Dhruv say that. He was handing her the cup with steaming tea which she took from him and muttered a small "Thanks!"

"Dude, I can help you out with the money for this month. I just calculated my finances and turns out that I have decent savings to help you. What say?" Nandini felt awkward to even be saying that because she had no idea of how to deal with such conversations. Dhruv smiled at her cute attempt to make it sound cool and casual but he could not let her do that for him.

"That's a kind offer, Murthy but I cannot let you do this. I value our friendship and things like money only screw up good things. If I take money from you then I'll feel guilty around you all the time and I cannot tip-toe around the one friend whom I need the most." Dhruv's refusal both, melted and irked Nandini.

"If you need me the most then I should be allowed to help you when you need me to... And I also believe that if the friendship is strong then trivial things like money cannot affect it, whatsoever. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be friends with someone who has so many issues and feel bad about myself for not helping that friend when I, clearly, can?" Nandini sipped her tea in the middle of her small yet effective speech. She sounded sincere, with no sign of whimsy, yet Dhruv couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her.

"Uh... I... I don't think this would be a good idea." Dhruv couldn't gather logical arguments to decline Nandini's offer. He did need the money but he wasn't willing to take that from a friend. It felt like he was taking advantage of her niceness which was again just how Dhruv felt.